Gemotions

The scent of cedar and pine hit him first, instantly transporting him back to summer afternoons spent with Emily in the woods. He saw her, her back to him, laughing at something a stranger had said. His heart hammered in his chest, a frantic drumbeat against his ribs.

He walked up to her, his breath held captive in his lungs. "Emily?" he asked, the word sounding raspy. She turned, her expression pleasant, but utterly blank.

"Yes?" she asked, her voice light and musical. He felt a sudden, electric charge, a sensation that began at the back of his neck and spread through his body. He felt a rush of heat, and his hands clenched, then unclenched, then clenched again.

He tried a smile, but his lips felt stiff. "It's, uh, Michael. We used to…explore the woods together." A blank stare was his reply. The blood surged in his ears and he felt a desperate desire to simply disappear.